1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to computer aided detection, and more particularly to a system and method for finding blob-like structures.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In the field of automatic detection systems, suppose that a bright solid sphere is sought in a given image having a given radius in a larger target image. One approach to detect objects in an image is to use template matching, in which a template of the object to be detected is first chosen or generated, and a correlation between the template and the target image for all possible valid shifts of the template within the target is computed. Then the peals of the correlation are selected as candidate positions of the object within the target image. In the case of locating a solid sphere of a given radius, a template solid sphere of the given radius is generated, and the template matching can be performed. However, high correlation peaks could be obtained even by objects within the target that are not spherical; for example, a solid box with sides larger than the radius of the sphere. One proposed solution to this problem is to use the edges (for example, the magnitude of the gradient) instead. That is, instead of detecting solid spheres, the edges in the image can be determined, and then search for a hollow sphere (or shell).
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for determining blob-like structures.